Zenith, Access Bank, 3 Others Receive 6.8 Million Complaints From Customers in Six Months
- Five Nigerian banks have recorded close to 7 million customer complaints in the first six months of 2023
- The figure is 117% higher than the one recorded in the same period in 2022, data from Lenders' Report says
- UBA topped the list of banks with the most customer complaints and spent N125.26 billion from N4.39 billion as of June 2022
PAY ATTENTION: #StartupSouth Awards 2023 Nominated Legit.ng in the category Best Startup Coverage! Your support matters - click to VOTE for Legit.ng for free!
Five commercial banks received 6,865,217 complaints as of June 30, 2023, a yearly increase of 117% from the 3,156,704 complaints received in the same period in 2022.
Financial claims from the complaints in the first six months of 2023 stood at N326.11 billion, a 289% rise compared with N83.78 billion paid in claims in June 2022.
Source: Getty Images
The data is contained in the reviewed Lenders' report obtained from the Nigerian Exchange Limited, which includes UBA, Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, and Guaranty Trust Bank.
UBA tops the list of banks with the highest number of customer complaints
UBA recorded the highest customer complaints of 1,930,518 as of June 2023 from the 475,121 recorded in the same period in 2022.
PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!
The number marked a 306.32% increase and the highest among the banks.
The amount involved in the complaints was N125.26 billion from N4.39 billion as of June 2022.
Access Bank comes next with a 132.25% increase in customer complaints between June 2022 and June 2023.
The bank received complaints rose to 3,222 from 1,387,702, with N136.75 billion from the N57.87 billion recorded in 2022.
Fidelity Bank also recorded an increase of 77.69% rise in customer complaints, with 1,010,586 from 568,738, amount claimed stood at N55.20 billion.
Zenith Bank's customer complaints rose 12.55% to 247,685 from 220,067 as of June 2022. The claim amount from the bank amounted to N8.38 billion, a 66% increase from the N5.04 billion recorded in the same period in 2022.
GTB records the least customer complaints in 6 months
Only Guaranty Trust Bank recorded a decline in customer complaints, which dropped from 505,076 in 2022 to 453,575 in 2023.
The bank also recorded a drop in the disputed amount to N517.67 million from N1.51 billion.
Punch reports that the banking sector contended with issues of the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which led to a surge in electronic banking.
Electronic transaction spike as bank tech workers relocate abroad
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBBS) said in its e-payment record issued in April that the volume of electronic transactions increased yearly by 298% to N135.52 trillion in Q1 2023 from 34.04 trillion in Q1 of 2022.
Experts attributed the spike in customer complaints in the banks to the mass migration that hit the industry in recent years.
Chizor Malize blamed the Japa syndrome in Nigeria as one of the reasons for the poor service delivery in the banks, stating that most tech experts in the banks have relocated overseas.
Malize revealed this during the launch of a collaboration with Nexford University in Lagos.
According to him, the financial sector is already feeling the impact of the decline in the quality of services in the financial services industry.
Electronic and insider fraud in banks skyrocket
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigerian banks lost a massive N9.5 billion to electronic fraud from January to August 2023.
The development comes as the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF), on Friday, August 18, 2023, called for new standards and increased partnerships to curtail the rising cases of electronic fraud.
The Forum revealed this at its third-quarter general meeting in Lagos, which focused on New Strategies for Combating e-fraud in a Cashless Environment.
During the last two years, 110 senior bank officials and subordinate employees have been fired for fraud-related charges.
This was revealed in a report titled: 'Reports of Fraud and Forgeries in Nigerian Banks' and published by the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), Legit.ng reported.
The report was for the second quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2023.
The Nigerian Banker's Committee, which includes the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, and all licensed banks in Nigeria, comprises the institutional members of FITC.
Customers of UBA, Zenith Bank, Access banks lose N472 million to fraudsters in 3 month
Earlier, the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) said bank customers in Nigeria lost N472 million to fraud in the first three months of 2023.
FITC disclosed that there was a total of 12,552 cases of fraud recorded during the period under review.
The centre comprises members of the Nigerian Banker’s Committee, including CBN, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, and all licensed banks in the country.
Source: Legit.ng
